Goshen Fire Chief: Fire in Dresser Hill Road home Tuesday not considered suspicious

GOSHEN — The state fire marshal’s office is investigating what caused a fire at a Dresser Hill Road home Tuesday evening that displaced one man.

Goshen Fire Chief Susan Labrie said the fire is not considered suspicious.

No one was injured but the house was rendered inhabitable, she said. The resident, Alexander Therkelsen, will be staying with family.

In a press release, Goshen Fire Capt. Robert Labrie estimated the fire that appeared to have started in the bathroom caused between $15,000 and $25,000 in damage to the house. He said the house was insured.

According to the press release, Therkelsen arrived home from work at 5:44 p.m. to discover smoke in the house. He followed it to the closed bathroom door and noticed the door handle was hot.

“He was met with a wall of smoke when he cracked the door to look for the fire. He immediately closed the door, called 911 and grabbed a garden hose to put water on the flames from the outside of the building” through a window, Robert Labrie wrote.

Firefighters from Goshen, Williamsburg and Chesterfield quickly extinguished the fire. Also responding to the scene were tanker trucks from Cummington and Ashfield and Highland Ambulance in case there were injuries, the release said.

While the fire was out in minutes, Chief Labrie said there were lots of hot spots where fire had gotten into other parts of the house. “We had to dig in the walls and ceilings for several hours to make sure it was all out,” she said.